26 Engagement Party Ideas & Themes
Photography by Margarita Hope PhotographyCongratulations! If you’ve just got engaged, we wish you every happiness! You’re probably feeling all loved up in that engagement bubble. Don’t let it pop just yet! Celebrate with an engagement party! We’ve got 26 engagement party ideas and themes to suit every couple. Check out these fun yet casual outdoor activities, glamorous cocktail parties, groovy silent discos, scandalous murder mysteries and more! Our advice would be to not underestimate the importance of your engagement party theme. It gives your guests an exciting glimpse into what your wedding might be like! So leave them wanting more with these 26 engagement party ideas! We're starting to think we should be called Rock My Engagement but it doesn't quite have the same ring...
Discover 26 engagement party ideas and themes perfect for every couple
1. Outdoor Summer Engagement Party Theme Ideas
Celebrating your engagement in the summertime? Make the most of the brighter, warmer weather with an outdoor engagement party! With lawn games, BBQs, and more interactive food options, what’s not to love? Think mobile gin bars, interactive cocktail walls, and pizza and churros vans! With the sun shining, it’s the perfect time to get in the mood for love!
2. Summer BBQ - I Do BBQ
If you have a large garden or know someone who wouldn’t mind hosting, a summer BBQ is a fantastic theme for your engagement party. They do say the way to the heart is through the stomach, so fall in love all again over some grilled goodness. This one is kid-friendly too!
3. Movie Night - Nacho Average Engagement Party
Host this one indoors (if you have a big screen) or outdoors (with a projector)! Play your favourite film as a couple, a film that has a similar plot to your own love story or a classic crowd-pleaser you know everyone will love! Indulge in popcorn, nachos, hot dogs and all the best snacks alongside something fizzy to drink.
4. Boat Party - Aye Do, Captain! / Two Less Fish in the Sea
Take your nearest and dearest to a boat party! Hire a boat and go for an all-out nautical theme. Think blue and white stripes, a seafood menu, and nautical props for pictures! Life jackets, captain hats, and cherry red Baywatch-style swimsuits. We’re obsessed!
5. Picnic - Picnic Perfect / Found The Main Squeeze
Also another child-friendly engagement party idea, a picnic is perfect for celebrating during the daytime rather than the evening and suits those more low-key couples. Meet at a local park or in your garden and feast on some homemade food or a charcuterie board and play some games! Is anyone up for a round of Mr & Mrs? If you go for the ‘Found The Main Squeeze’ theme, you can go for lemon decor and make some homemade lemonade for the kids and limoncello shots for the adults!
6. Pool Party - Something Blue
Obviously, the something blue here is the pool! Throwing a pool party is an engagement party idea that never fails. Sipping on something refreshing with yummy food, the lo-fi beats pulsing and everyone having a good time soaking up the sun or floating on the inflatables is just good vibes all around.
7. Bonfire & Fireworks - The Countdown Begins
Again, a backyard bonfire is the ideal engagement party idea for more casual couples. Roast some s’mores, indulge in hot chocolate and feel all warm inside by enjoying that engagement bubble. Honestly, nothing feels better! To start things off the right way, end the night with fireworks! An unforgettable display of fireworks will leave your guests excited to see what the actual wedding will look like!
8. Carnival - The Kissing Booth / Wedding Fest
As we said earlier, your engagement party gives your guests a glimpse into what they can expect on your wedding day. If you think a bright and bold wedding might be in your vision, then consider having a carnival engagement party theme! Think of the movie, ‘The Kissing Booth’ with lipstick prints, candyfloss and neon signs! Or go down the more classic, ‘Wedding Fest’ route with a camping area, live bands and street food!
9. Intimate Engagement Party Ideas
Outdoor engagement parties can be low-key and casual but can still involve a lot of guests! If you prefer a more intimate setting without your third cousin twice removed and Great Aunt Tessie, then these engagement party ideas will be much more up your street.
10. Dinner Party - McLovin Drive Thru
Dinner parties! These feature on our list because they will literally never fail you! Whether you cook and design the menu yourself or splash out and hire a chef, the intimate nature of dinner parties makes them perfect for celebrating an engagement because only your closest loved ones will be there! You know each and every person sat there wishes the absolute best for you and your beau! Obviously, you can go classy and black-tie with this or take our ‘McLovin Drive Thru’ theme and order in a McDonald’s or other takeaway!
11. Engagement Moon Holiday - They Said ‘Oui’
We’ve got honeymoons and babymoons, so we say what about an engagementmoon? We all need any excuse for a holiday, right? Whether you go and celebrate as a couple or invite some of your closest friends/family along, you’ll have a great time. What better place to visit than the city of love, Paris?
12. Brunch - Love You A Latte
If evening celebrations aren’t for you, host an engagement party luncheon! Think classic British afternoon tea vibes with finger sandwiches, scones, cakes and plenty of hot drinks for your guests to choose from. If you have a fave coffee shop you always visit together or went to one on your first date, this could be the perfect engagement party theme for you!
13. Wine Tasting - Wined and Dined
Wine tasting is great, but if you can find wine tasting at an actual vineyard, you’ve got yourself a winner. Organise a tour of the vineyard before indulging in some wine tasting. This option is super intimate and would be great for the fiancees to do with their immediate wedding party or parents and in-laws! Plus, you might even find the wine you’d like to serve at your wedding!
14. Game Night - We Hit The Jackpot / Love Wins
Invite your closest people over to play some games with lots of laughter and fun. Got a competitive streak? Test out your newly engaged luck on some board games. Host the game night with wine and cheese, tell everyone to turn up in their cosiest PJs and enjoy! Couples that can play board games together, stay together.
15. Murder Mystery - Kiss, Marry, Kill
Any drab and dull dinner party is instantly more fun when there's a murder. A murder mystery, that is. A murder mystery themed engagement party is a great idea for a couple that loves true crime or is always in search of their next adventure. Plus, with everyone dressed up in costumes and role-playing a character, it'll make the party all the more memorable.
16. Dessert Party - Found A Sweet One
Got a sweet tooth? If you and your partner can’t resist a good ol’ sweet treat, why not have a dessert engagement party? Hint: the only food and drinks you’ll serve are sweet! Think ice cream, cake, biscuits, candy, milkshakes, hot chocolate and more! This is also the perfect engagement party idea if one or both of you enjoy baking or are fans of The Great British Bake Off! You could ask guests to bring one dessert with them so that everyone has something they like!
17. Large Engagement Party Gathering Ideas
Now, traditionally you don’t get engaged very often in life, so it makes sense to want to go big or go home and celebrate it with everything you have! Maybe you’ve been waiting a while for your beau to pop the question, and now they finally have, you can party! Here are our favourite engagement party ideas for couples who want to really party!
18. Cocktail Party - Drunk In Love
Everyone will be dressed to the nines in cocktail attire (obviously), your ring will be sparkling under the disco lights and the bubbles will be flowing! Doesn’t that sound perfect? To level up your cocktail party, think about getting some custom cocktails named after you, your beau, and anything meaningful to the two of you. Plus, why not get a mixologist to put on some demonstrations and teach everyone how to make some classic cocktails? Cheers!
19. Silent Disco / Live Band - (Nearly) The Last Disco
Have you ever been to a silent disco? They’re either great fun or make you cringe, so it’s safe to say that they can be hard to pull off. But when everyone is feeling the love and happiness of your recent engagement everyone will be in the dancing mood. Book a live band, invite friends to add to the newly engaged couple's record collection, or cue up the karaoke machine. We recommend using your engagement party as an opportunity to build the playlist for your wedding day, ask your guests to contribute their best party songs to a master playlist. Plus, keep an eye out for which songs get everyone up and singing along!
Themed Engagement Party Ideas
Finally, we’ve rounded up some more engagement party ideas that are a little more specific with particular themes. Think TV shows, celebrities, zodiac signs and Halloween! Let’s get into them!
20. Feyoncés - Are you part of the BeyHive? Dedicate your engagement party to all things Beyoncé with a Beyoncé playlist and ask your guests to dress as their favourite Beyoncé era!
21. I’ll Find You In Every Lifetime - Host a decades party! Every guest or couple has to dress up as a specific decade. If you love dressing up, this is the perfect engagement party idea for you!
22. The One Where They Got Engaged - This engagement party idea is the best for fans of the TV show, Friends! Assign your guests a character they should dress up as and have hidden Friends references in your decorations!
23. Love at First Swipe - Did you and your fiancé meet on a dating app? Make that the theme of your engagement party and involve fun ‘swiping’ or quiz games for your guests. If you’re feeling brave, you could expose your old dating profile and show your guests what it was that made your partner fall head over heels!
24. Perfect Pairs - Good things come in two’s! Name your tables after famous duos, only serve foods that come in pairs, and insist guests order two drinks.
25. Written In The Stars - Into astrology? Go for a zodiac theme engagement party. Think black, white, and metallics with hanging stars and fairy lights, posters of your birth charts, tables and cocktails named after the zodiac signs, the possibilities are endless! You could even get an astrologer to attend!
26. The Apple Of My Eye - Thinking of hosting your engagement party in autumn? Celebrating your engagement in an apple orchard with fresh apple cider or warm apple pies really embraces the best parts of the fall season!
Cocktail parties and game nights to pool parties and murder mysteries, what will you choose?
Hopefully, these engagement party ideas have helped you figure out the theme for your celebrations! Next, you’ll need to find the outfit. Head to our engagement party dresses article for some killer dresses! Have you thought about who you want in your wedding party? Here’s our advice for asking ‘Will you be my bridesmaid?”.
